Happy Hour
Back of the Book
Isa Epley, all of twenty-one years old, is already wise enough to understand that the purpose of life is the pursuit of pleasure. She arrives in New York with her newly blond best friend looking for adventure. They have little money, but that’s hardly going to stop them. By day, the girls sell clothes on a market stall, pinching pennies for their Bed-Stuy sublet and bodega lunches. By night, they weave between Brooklyn, the Upper East Side, and the Hamptons among a rotating cast of celebrities, artists, Internet entrepreneurs, stuffy intellectuals, and bad-mannered grifters. Resources run ever tighter and the strain tests their friendship as they try to convert social capital into something more lasting than precarious gigs as au pairs, nightclub hostesses, paid audience members, and aspiring foot fetish models. Through it all, Isa’s bold, beguiling voice captures the precise thrill of cultivating a life of glamour and intrigue as she juggles paying her dues with skipping out on the bill. Happy Hour is a novel about getting by and having fun in a system that wants you to do neither.
Why You Should Read It
Happy Hour, with its gorgeous, minimalistic cover, has been absolutely everywhere and rightly so. A meditation on youth and the trials of living a life as modern, young, bohemian international party girls living hand to mouth and social reference to social reference, Granados is able to consistently present the tone of unflailing optimism that keeps young lives in New York afloat. The narrative following two best friends who live to enjoy the lives they are living, present the truth of the city as a series of golden opportunities for people who are able to remain happy enough to wake up and try again—without being at all pretentious, didactic or out of touch. Granados has a thorough understanding of appetite as a concept—the motive that fuels the girls countless adventures reads as an ambivalent sort of hunger that keeps them desirous and sharp without being at all mean. Happy hour is truly happy as a book, lifting the kindness and stickiness of the New York social scene out of the depths of myth and mystery.
Memorable Passage
He said, 'What do you want?' All I could think of was peeling the skin of a Valencia orange in bed on a bright morning with someone pulling me into the covers because they want to spend two or three minutes nestling before starting their day. So I said, 'Not much.’
About the Author
Marlowe Granados is a contemporary Canadian author and cultural force whose work stands at the intersection of literature, art, and pop culture. Born in Vancouver, Granados has gained recognition for her keen observations on modern life and her distinctive narrative voice. Her debut novel, Happy Hour, is a critically acclaimed exploration of millennial existence, combining sharp social commentary with a fresh and witty writing style. Beyond her literary accomplishments, Granados is a multifaceted talent, making significant contributions to the cultural landscape as a performer, filmmaker, and curator. With an ability to capture the zeitgeist of our times, Marlowe Granados is worth knowing for her versatility, her thought-provoking creative endeavors, and her role as a dynamic voice shaping the contemporary artistic and literary scene.
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Sophia June